Growing Hope

There is a new generation of legally licensed cannabis dispensaries on San Diego’s horizon, in part due to the passing of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational cannabis, and also in part due to the city slightly loosening the stranglehold of regulations that have prohibited new dispensaries from opening within the past year.

The San Diego City Council updated existing medical cannabis regulations in the San Diego Municipal Code on January 31 to conform with the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act and accommodate for recreational sales after San Diego voters approved Measure N last November. On March 14, zoning regulations were revised. The revised regulations allow for dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and other sensitive areas, as long as there is a freeway, a wall or any other topographical area that separates the sensitive area from the dispensary. Following a year of stagnation, two new dispensaries recently opened, one in Linda Vista and one in Kearny Mesa. Four more are expected to open after city hearings this summer. Two are scheduled for final decisions by the Planning Commission this month. Of those proposed sites, three are located in Mission Valley, and one in Sorrento Valley.

“We hope that reaching a critical mass of licensed dispensaries will further encourage San Diego medicinal cannabis users to exclusively patronize establishments that abide by the rules, and that ultimately we see the market for unregulated, unlicensed shops dwindle further.”

Additionally, six other undisclosed applicants are testing the waters of San Diego’s notoriously unfriendly and expensive approval process. The addresses of some of the proposed dispensaries in the city’s approval pipeline are 2835 Camino Del Rio South, 6176 Federal Boulevard, 7850 Mission Center Court, 10110 Sorrento Valley Road, 5959 Mission Gorge Road and 1235 Hotel Circle South. Some of these proposed locations may be denied because they are located within 1,000 feet of a dispensary already in operation. Others could be disqualified because the city of San Diego allows for only four dispensaries in each of the nine council districts, and seven of the proposed sites are located in Council District 7, which includes Mission Valley, Allied Gardens, Del Cerro, Linda Vista, San Carlos, Serra Mesa, Tierrasanta and Lake Murray.

A point of importance is that the city has agreed to allow licensed medical cannabis collectives to begin legally selling cannabis to recreational consumers in January 2018. At that time experts expect the demand for legally purchased cannabis to greatly increase.

City officials and some cannabis advocates hope that having more legal options will deter illegal storefronts and deliveries, many of which have already been raided and shut down. Many cannabis advocates disagree, citing concern for the more than 100,000 medical cannabis patients who cannot be properly served with so few outlets. This is a legitimate concern, considering that many medical cannabis patients lack mobility and transportation, and using public transportation to get to a legal dispensary is not a viable option for many.

Phil Rath is the executive director of the San Diego United Medical Marijuana Coalition, a  professional organization that represents legally licensed medical cannabis businesses. In a statement to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Rath shared how his organization expects to see regulated dispensaries will eliminate cannabis consumers’ reliance on unlicensed dispensaries. “We hope that reaching a critical mass of licensed dispensaries will further encourage San Diego medicinal cannabis users to exclusively patronize establishments that abide by the rules, and that ultimately we see the market for unregulated, unlicensed shops dwindle further,” Rath said.

As for other local jurisdictions, San Diego County is allowing cannabis storefronts. Thus far, a total of five locations have been approved, and three have already opened. Even though possession and consumption of cannabis is now completely legal in California, the debate over how many storefronts and deliveries should be legally allowed to operate within San Diego will likely continue for years to come.